Tina & Mani - Indian Wedding in Punjab - Day 1

   Punjab.... India.... February 2011.... Wedding.... 6 days....

Once again it seems to be extremely hard to find my words to express all the feelings and emotions we experienced in our Indian adventure. My only chance is to let the pictures do the talking and I shall start with the first day. We left Patiala in the morning for a 3 hour ride across Punjab to Mani's village, Kattan. The cars have hot peppers and black strings attached for good luck:

 We're in India alright:

 The groom's family is giving us a warm welcome:

 But Tina's mom still has to pay her way in:

 It's worth the price if you consider all the delicacies waiting inside:

 After lunch everybody's walking to the nearby gurdwara for the shagun ceremony:

 It's the smallest gurdwara I've seen so far:

 And half of the space is taken by the local film crew:

 It's time for Tina's family to present the gifts to Mani. Not sure what that is, but it's eye catching:

 And lots of sweets, of course:

 Mani gets rather emotional, but his brothers are there to support him:

 We're back to the house just in time for the second lunch. Not that is somebody hungry already, but it's an Indian celebration and we're in India:

 The decorations are like nothing I've ever encountered before, a little different than the all weather tents we get to see back in Canada:

 It's a long way back to Patiala, so the bride's family is saying goodbye:

 But they don't leave empty handed:

 Now gifts are going in all directions. I guess there's too many of them:

 Mani has one last hug for his soon to be mother in law. We'll all get together again the following day, in Patiala:

Don't panic if you didn't see Tina yet! She's not allowed to leave her house, but you'll get enough of her in the coming week! 5 more days of Punjabi wedding traditions to come, so don't go too far!

love.more.cosmin